Earlier this month, Lady Gaga took to The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon to share plans she had to honor healthcare workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Appearing on the show to make the announcement, she held off on it saying “I can’t tell you everything right now because I’m still ironing out the details and I have a lot of phone calls to make.”

Returning that following Friday, she revealed that she and a number of musicians would join her in a partnership with the World Health Organization and Global Citizen for One World: Together At Home.

Kicking off the show, Lady Gaga covered Nat King Cole’s “Smile” for her performance. Before beginning her set, Gaga shared her thoughts and prayers regarding the crisis.

“I feel very honored to be apart of the World Health Organization and Global Citizen in the fight against COVID-19 in raising money for the Solidarity Response Fund,” she said. “I care so much about all of the medical workers that are putting their lives at risk for us right. I think of them every day, I pray for them every day, and I am also thinking of all of you that are at home who are wondering when this is all going to be different.”

The performance comes after she was forced to postpone her upcoming album, Chromatica, which was slated for an April 10 release. In describing the album, Gaga said, “I would like to put out music that a big chunk of the world will hear, and it will become a part of their daily lives and make them happy every single day.”

In addition to Lady Gaga, Pharrell, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Lizzo and more are also expected to deliver performances at the festival.

View Entire Post ›

“I have a very welcome distraction through my son, who is 2.”

View Entire Post ›

Boobs hit different in quarantine.

View Entire Post ›

Make your food work for you.

View Entire Post ›

#ShareMyCheck is a crowdsourcing effort bringing relief to workers who are largely overlooked by federal, state, and local governments.

View Entire Post ›

With people locked inside from coast-to-coast as a way to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the opportunities to do some sort of physical activity are limited. There’s regular, in-home exercise, and in some states, folks can head outdoors for a walk, run, or bike ride as long as they recognize social distancing guidelines.

For those with a basketball, Dallas Mavericks coach and handles icon God Shammgod wants to make sure you emerge from quarantine, whenever safe, with his namesake move in your bag of tricks. Shammgod made a video that NBA TV posted to its official Twitter account that serves as a how-to on the move, which has been used on courts around the world to make defenders look foolish for years.

Shammgod stressed the importance of having proper footwork, which he says would make everything else moot if it’s done incorrectly. The video rules, largely because learning how to do a thing from a person who invented it is always going to be extremely cool. It also lets me drop in this video of people using the Shammgod, which is legitimately a thing of beauty when it is done right.

While we’re here, this is a video of God himself giving Arizona the business in the NCAA Tournament.

And for good measure, enjoy this clip of a young Lamar Odom Shamgodding the soul out of someone.

Quarantine is going to end at some point. It might take a while to get to that point, so as long as you have a spot where you can work on this, you might as well get the Shammgod in your bag. Just make sure if you live in an apartment building that you apologize to your downstairs neighbors.

The basketball world will have to wait a bit longer than usual for the marquee international event, the Summer Olympic Games. But when they are finally held in Tokyo in 2021, at least one American basketball player will have a different affiliation.

Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets will obtain a Nigerian passport in order to play for the nation’s men’s basketball program. The news comes via The Athletic’s Shams Charania, who on Saturday detailed that Dinwiddie would take steps to play for Nigeria after he did not receive an invitation to play for Team USA.

Soon after, Dinwiddie confirmed the news on his Twitter account.

The American team is the most competitive of international basketball rosters, so not making the cut may have been expected by prognosticators, even for a player as good as Dinwiddie. But the move to suit up for Nigeria means Dinwiddie gets to play international basketball more consistently, and he joins a team with talent that includes Al-Farouq Aminu, Josh Okogie, Chimezie Metu, Ekpe Udoh. He’ll suit up for an NBA coach, too, as Warriors assistant Mike Brown leads the squad.

All of this is just paperwork right now, as no one can play basketball and the Olympics have officially been pushed back. But we’re starting to see more of what Team USA’s competition will be in the Summer Games — Nigeria has already qualified for the tournament — something anyone who’s a fan of basketball would love to see take place next year.

View Entire Post ›

Earlier in April, Fountains of Wayne bassist and songwriter Adam Schlesinger tragically passed away after complications caused by coronavirus. Following his death, Schlesinger was honored throughout the entertainment world. Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard said Schlesinger helped him “realize a life-long dream” before covering Fountains Of Wayne’s “Barbara H.” Earlier this week cast of That Thing You Do! said the 1996 film’s boy band The Wonders would reunite to honor Schlesinger, wrote the film’s theme song.

Taking a moment to honor the songwriter, Mark Ronson shared a six-minute tribute to Schlesinger on Instagram.

In the video, Ronson looked back at the work Schlesinger contributed to the world with a nearly 7-minute DJ set backed by music from Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Dolly Parton, Prince, Aerosmith, Rakim, Three 6 Mafia, Lady Gaga and more. In addition to words from Rachel Bloom, co-creator and star of My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Ronson shared his own thoughts on Schlesinger in the video’s caption.

Schlesinger wrote one of the most memorable, beloved pop songs from any film of modern times, “That Thing You Do”—a jangly ear worm that has made its way into the canon. He was also beyond versatile—starting off in acclaimed indie band Fountains of Wayne and ending up as composer for the brilliant and adored TV comedy-musical “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”… Adam passed away from CV earlier this month but MUSIC LIVES FOREVER. so thank you for the music

It’s clear Schlesinger had a significant impact on a lot of musicians, so these tributes are likely to continue as the music world mourns his tragic loss.